ifpri gender methods seminar, may 28, 2015: women's empowerment in agriculture: implications...
TRANSCRIPT
Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture
Implications for Agricultural Productivity in Rural Bangladesh
Greg [email protected]
Background
• Chronic food insecurity in rural Bangladesh– Evidence suggests increasing women’s
control over resources has positive effects on a number of important development outcomes • Hoddinott and Haddad (1995)
• In rural Bangladesh, greater engagement within the agricultural sector may be one way for women to gain greater control over resources– Key part of what it means for women in
rural Bangladesh to be empowered
Social Context
• Social norms limit women’s opportunities to take on larger roles in agriculture – Traditional gender
division of labor
• Social boundaries are not absolute– Recent increases in women’s participation
in agricultural labor force
Research Questions
1. Do gender gaps in agricultural productivity exist in rural Bangladesh?
Research Questions
1. Do gender gaps in agricultural productivity exist in rural Bangladesh?– Female-inclusive vs. male-exclusive
• Based on plot ownership and decision-making
Research Questions
1. Do gender gaps in agricultural productivity exist in rural Bangladesh?– Female-inclusive vs. male-exclusive
• Based on plot ownership and decision-making
2. What is the relationship between women’s empowerment and agricultural productivity in rural Bangladesh?
Research Questions
1. Do gender gaps in agricultural productivity exist in rural Bangladesh?
– Female-inclusive vs. male-exclusive• Based on plot ownership and decision-making
2. What is the relationship between women’s empowerment and agricultural productivity in rural Bangladesh?
– Empowerment score• Weighted sum of the 10 indicators comprising the five domains of
empowerment (5DE) component of the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI)
– Group membership• Primary female decision-maker belongs to a credit, microfinance, or
informal savings group
Linking Women’s Empowerment to Agricultural Productivity
• Increases in social capital– Means of gaining information about new
technologies and farming practices– Social networks that may be accessed to
smooth consumption in times of hardship or acquire agricultural inputs
• Increases in access to credit– Greater ability to invest in infrastructure and
to smooth consumption or production shocks• Increases in human capital and access to
productive resources
Gender Differences in Agricultural Productivity
Technical efficiencyRatio of actual output
to the maximum technologically feasible level of
output0 Inputs,
X
Output, Y
Production frontier, Y=f(X)
C
A
Male-exclusive
Female-inclusive
B
Existing Literature
• Tends to focus on sub-Saharan Africa– Joint cultivation makes it more difficult to study
gender differences in agricultural productivity in South Asia
• Fails to consider women’s empowerment• Methodological problems– Female headship as an indicator of women’s
role in farm management– Simultaneity of productivity and input choice
Stochastic Frontier Analysis
• Stochastic frontier production function
– : output (value of crops produced)– : vector of inputs (capital, land, labor, other inputs)– Dual error term
• : exogenous shocks beyond farmers’ control and measurement error
• : technical inefficiency
• Involves the joint estimation of two models– Production frontier– Technical inefficiency model
Data
• 2011-2012 Bangladesh Integrated Household Survey (BIHS)
• Only households engaged in crop agriculture– 3,303 households– 4,622 plots of land– 3 cropping seasons
• Total sample size: 7,045 plot-level, season-specific observations
Primary Variables of Interest
Control variables: age, education, share of working-age men/women, agricultural extension, non-agricultural income share, tenancy status, primary crop, administrative division, season
Variable Description Mean
Empowerment score (uncensored 5DE)
Weighted sum of ten indicators comprising the 5DE component of the WEAI (for the primary female decision-maker)
0.66
Group membership
Primary female decision-maker belongs to a credit, microfinance, or informal savings group
0.26
Female-inclusive ownership
Primary female decision-maker is sole or joint owner of plot
0.04
Female-inclusive decision-making
Primary female decision-maker participates in any decision relating to agricultural production on plot
0.11
Results
• No evidence of gender gaps in technical efficiency– Female-inclusive
plots are equally as efficient as male-exclusive plots
Tech. Efficiency
Variable Coef.
Age -0.085***
Age2/100 0.100***
Primary education 0.024
> Primary education -0.148*
Female-headed household -0.131
Share of working-age women 0.008
Share of working-age men 0.954***
Extension visits 0.263***
Extension visits2 -0.045**
Non-agricultural income share -0.406***
Tenancy status 0.033
Female-inclusive ownership -0.123
Female-inclusive decision-making
0.104
Crop, Division, Season Dummies
Yes
N 7,045
Source: 2011-2012 BIHS, Author’s calculations
Results
• Empowerment score and group membership both associated with higher levels of technical efficiency
• Does relationship differ for female-inclusive plots and male-exclusive plots?– No significant evidence
of interaction effects (results not shown)
• Empowerment score and group membership associated with higher levels of technical efficiency for ALL plots operated by household
Tech. efficiency
Tech. efficiency
Variable Coef. Coef.
Age -0.089*** -0.088***
Age2/100 0.104*** 0.103
Primary education 0.023 0.028
> Primary education -0.144* -0.140*
Female-headed household -0.124 -0.131
Share of working-age women
0.009 0.008
Share of working-age men 0.950*** 0.948***
Extension visits 0.264*** 0.260***
Extension visits2 -0.045** -0.044
Non-agricultural income share
-0.411*** -0.433***
Tenancy status 0.028 0.026
Female-inclusive ownership
-0.125 -0.130
Female-inclusive decision-making
0.070 0.091
Empowerment score 0.314** -
Group membership - 0.130**
Crop, Division, Season Dummies
Yes Yes
N 7,045 7,045
Source: 2011-2012 BIHS, Author’s calculations
Extension
• Group membership may not reflect active participation within a group
Variable Description Mean
Group attendance
Number of meetings primary female decision-maker attended out of last five
0.56
Group input Primary female decision-maker has “some” say in group decisions
0.04
Group leadership Primary female decision-maker has held a leadership position
0.02
• Distinction between group membership and participation among women in rural Bangladesh appears relevant
Extended Results
• Not the quantity, but the quality of group membership that matters most for technical efficiency
Tech. Efficiency
Variable Coef.
Age -0.090***
Age2/100 0.105***
Primary education 0.020
> Primary education -0.147*
Female-headed household -0.128
Share of working-age women 0.007
Share of working-age men 0.982***
Extension visits 0.260***
Extension visits2 -0.044**
Non-agricultural income share -0.436***
Tenancy status 0.021
Female-inclusive ownership -0.125
Female-inclusive decision-making 0.097
Group membership 0.059
Group attendance 0.006
Group input 0.245
Group leadership 0.423*
Crop, Division, Season Dummies Yes
N 7,045
Source: 2011-2012 BIHS, Author’s calculations
Conclusions
• Important to include women's empowerment in research on agricultural productivity
• No evidence of gender productivity gaps• Women’s empowerment helps everyone!– Positive spillover effects may exist that extend
benefits to other household members– Promising channel for addressing food
insecurity and promoting higher overall levels of agricultural productivity
